Dwayne Johnson Is Ready to Be More Than His Blockbusters

Dwayne Johnson has become one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, headlining a plethora of blockbuster movies. Some have been good, most have been passable, although things really hit the fan with Black Adam collapsing under Johnson’s and Warner Bros.’ feet. No matter! Johnson is back and stepping it up: His latest film The Smashing Machine is getting so much buzz that its giving Johnson the room to start to rewriting his own cinematic history.

In a recent press conference for the film at the Venice Film Festival, Johnson talked about his desire for a role that would demand some serious acting chops. What stopped him? According to Johnson, Hollywood and its focus on the box office pushed him to chase that high, saying the urge to stick to what’s most popular is “very loud in our business. It can push you into a corner and category: ‘This is your lane, this is what you do, and this is what people want you to be and this is what Hollywood wants you to be.’”

“I liked those movies and they were fun,” Johnson said. “Some were really good and did well, and some not so good! But I think what I did realize is I just had this burning desire and this voice that was just saying, ‘What if there’s more, what if I can?’ Sometimes it’s hard to know what you’re capable of when you’ve been pigeon-holed into something.”

Johnson is of course fully entitled to have his own opinions about his work, but we do wonder if he might have jumped at more interesting roles before now. Fellow wrestlers-turned-actors Dave Bautista and John Cena have made their own efforts to diversify their range, choosing to take on roles that leaned into or shied away from their imposing physiques. Whether Smashing Machine resonates with audiences or not, it seems like Johnson finds joy in working with directors who push him to not just play it safe as much as he does in blockbusters.

[via GamesRadar]

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